Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people - even her soul. When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, criminalises her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to mask her hate, join the Empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to put a stop to the Emperor's influence and set her people free - whatever the price. A natural savant, she is sent as an Imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn - a post she worries will never get her the position and power she craves. But Baru soon discovers Aurdwynn is a complex and secretive country, seemingly on the brink of rebellion. All it would need is a match to the tinder...